14 ways to dismantle a monstrous government, one program at a time

[Denny Crane]

http://reason.com/archives/2010/10/05/how-to-slash-the-state/

How to Slash the State
14 ways to dismantle a monstrous government, one program at a time

From the November 2010 issue

1) Overhaul Medicare ($250B savings)
2) Bring the troops home ($100B savings)
3) Erase federal education spending ($78B savings)
4) Slash state budgets ($84B savings)
5) End Defined-Benefit Pensions ($500B shortfall)
6) End war on drugs ($40B savings, $50B tax revenues)
7) Cancel the FCC ($338M savings, $108B in related savings)
8) End agriculture subsidies ($20B savings)
9) Unplug the DoE ($10B minimum savings)
10) Dismantle Davis-Bacon ($11.4B savings, plus tax revenue from 114,000 expected new employees)
12) Repeal the stimulus ($300B savings)
13) Spend highway funds on highways ($10B to $30B savings)
14) Privatize public lands ($5B savings plus rent income)
15) End the fed, or audit it (save $trillions in wealth)

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I say we end Social Security entirely, and distribute the money still in there in the form of checks to everyone; since nobody in my generation (Gen X/Y) is going to be able to retire (ever) anyway, we might as well take what's ours now and stick it into that 401K that will never be big enough to support us. Also, a quick, painless death to anyone over the age of 70 in the form of a pill (Quietus, for those who have seen Children of Men) would allow us to kill Medicare, too.

Then, feed the meat of the dead to the homeless.

 

[Minstrel]

Then, feed the meat of the dead to the homeless.

We'll need some national health care to deal with the maladies associated with cannibalism. Why are you trying to embiggen the federal government?

 

[BrianFromWA]

Is "defined benefit pensions" Social Security?

 

[Denny Crane]

Is "defined benefit pensions" Social Security?

No, it's taxpayer money paying the pensions of govt. employees. The suggestion is the govt. employees should have 401K plans that they contribute part of their salaries into, like everyone else does.

 

[BrianFromWA]

like military pensions, then?

 

[Denny Crane]

like military pensions, then?

Sure. Don't the military get free housing and health care at the taxpayer's expense already? I realize the pay isn't what you could make in the private sector, but you should have enough to contribute to a retirement plan. IMO.

 

[barfo]

We'll need some national health care to deal with the maladies associated with cannibalism. Why are you trying to embiggen the federal government?

Embiggenism is the issue than no one wants to deal with. Embiggenists have infiltrated the highest levels of the government, starting from their roots in Kenya in the 1950s.

barfo

 

[Minstrel]

Embiggenism is the issue than no one wants to deal with. Embiggenists have infiltrated the highest levels of the government, starting from their roots in Kenya in the 1950s.

Very cromulent observation.

 

[DP]

Burn the government and let everyone fend for themselves! Dibs on Alaska...

 

[MARIS61]

No, it's taxpayer money paying the pensions of govt. employees. The suggestion is the govt. employees should have 401K plans that they contribute part of their salaries into, like everyone else does.

Federal employees have had 401k's since the early 80's when Reagan first gutted and killed the Civil Service System through so-called "privatization".

Also, the Federal Employee Retirement System which was implemented at that time to replace the Civil Service Retirement System, is basically a 401k also.

From reading the article it is clear the author is ill equipped to give advice on most of these cuts as he has at best a vague and naive view of their effects.

 

[MARIS61]

No, it's taxpayer money paying the pensions of govt. employees. The suggestion is the govt. employees should have 401K plans that they contribute part of their salaries into, like everyone else does.

So you envision paying government employees a higher salary/wage to make up for this hit, or do you plan on hiring illegal aliens to take the jobs?

Because few government jobs pay as well as the private sector already, so such a cut would create a mass exit of employees, skills, knowledge...and the total collapse of the government.

 

[MARIS61]

Sure. Don't the military get free housing and health care at the taxpayer's expense already?

Yes, as a significant part of their overall meager compensation package.

Be honest and just say you want to renege on employment contracts for all government employees, that you feel the government can lie to and cheat it's own people as long as it saves Denny Crane a few bucks on his tax bill.

 

[Denny Crane]

http://government-policy.blogspot.com/2010/10/federal-employees-retirement-system.html

Because CSRS retirement benefits have never been fully funded by employer and employee contributions, the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund has an unfunded liability. The unfunded liability was $674.2 billion in FY2008. According to actuarial estimates, the unfunded liability of the CSRDF will continue to rise until about 2030, when it will peak at $853.1 billion.

 

[Denny Crane]

So you envision paying government employees a higher salary/wage to make up for this hit, or do you plan on hiring illegal aliens to take the jobs?

Because few government jobs pay as well as the private sector already, so such a cut would create a mass exit of employees, skills, knowledge...and the total collapse of the government.

This is a hilarious post. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[MARIS61]

http://government-policy.blogspot.com/2010/10/federal-employees-retirement-system.html

Because CSRS retirement benefits have never been fully funded by employer and employee contributions, the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund has an unfunded liability. The unfunded liability was $674.2 billion in FY2008. According to actuarial estimates, the unfunded liability of the CSRDF will continue to rise until about 2030, when it will peak at $853.1 billion...

Continuing the quote you edited:... From that point onward, the unfunded liability will steadily decline, reaching a projected level of $4.5 billion in the year 2085. Actuarial estimates indicate that the unfunded liability of the CSRS does not pose a threat to the solvency of the trust fund. In its annual report, OPM has stated that “the total assets of the CSRDF, including both CSRS and FERS, continue to grow throughout the term of the projection, and ultimately reach a level of about 4.1 times payroll, or 19 times the level of annual benefit outlays” in 2080. Unlike the Social Security trust fund, there is no point over the next 70 years at which the assets of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund are projected to run out. .

I'm sure it was an oversight.

 

[MARIS61]

This is a hilarious post. Thanks for the laugh.

Says the man with no answer.

 

[Denny Crane]

Continuing the quote you edited:... From that point onward, the unfunded liability will steadily decline, reaching a projected level of $4.5 billion in the year 2085. Actuarial estimates indicate that the unfunded liability of the CSRS does not pose a threat to the solvency of the trust fund. In its annual report, OPM has stated that “the total assets of the CSRDF, including both CSRS and FERS, continue to grow throughout the term of the projection, and ultimately reach a level of about 4.1 times payroll, or 19 times the level of annual benefit outlays” in 2080. Unlike the Social Security trust fund, there is no point over the next 70 years at which the assets of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund are projected to run out. .

I'm sure it was an oversight.

It was exactly what reason.com said, and you posted they didn't know what they're talking about. How exactly do you think an unfunded liability becomes funded?

 

[Denny Crane]

Says the man with no answer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/05/AR2010100506187.html

Public employment was once viewed as less rewarding than work in the private sector, but that has changed. State and local government employees earn an average of $39.74 an hour in wages and benefits, about 45 percent more than private-sector workers, whose total compensation averages $27.64 an hour, according to the Labor Department.

The difference reflects the higher proportion of professional jobs in the public sector, the Labor Department says. Government workers tend to be better educated than private-sector workers, unions add. And public employees typically receive better retirement benefits than their private-sector counterparts.

 

[Denny Crane]

And since you're so interested in reading what I didn't bother to post from the previous article, the one above continues:

"Studies have found the nation's 2,500 public employee pension plans to be underfunded by as much as $3 trillion. Steep investment losses during the recession have left less than half of the state retirement systems adequately funded, according to a recent report by Bloomberg."

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Excellent article. It's big government, big taxes and unions that have choked the life out of the country.

 

[HailBlazers]

Excellent article. It's big government, big taxes and unions that have choked the life out of the country.

Very True, But I don't see how budget cuts are going turn it around. Were in a much bigger hole than any cuts are going to save. What we need is some innovative ideas as to how to get small business going (the economy)

 

[Denny Crane]

Very True, But I don't see how budget cuts are going turn it around. Were in a much bigger hole than any cuts are going to save. What we need is some innovative ideas as to how to get small business going (the economy)

While I agree with your sentiment, I don't think it makes sense to expect to grow our way out of this mess. The deficit is so freaking large we'd have to grow GDP by another 50% while not increasing spending at all until that happens. It might take 20 years, and we'd be running up huge deficits for most of that time.